Colombia is well known for its cultivation and trafficking of drugs rather than consumption. It is estimated that half of the worlds consumed cocaine originates from Colombia and according to the United Nations office of drugs and crime, in 2016 18 million people used the illicit drug worldwide.

Cannabis has been documented as the most commonly used illicit drug in Belgium by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s 2018 report. Popular among young adults aged 15-34 years with males being the main users, cannabis is also the primary substance for clients entering drug treatment facilities in the country.

A letter published by The New England Journal of Medicine documented that officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have warned that non-opioid painkillers could be at the forefront of the next wave of drug abuse.